The purpose of this research study was to explore the possibilities of critical pedagogy and critical literacy in an English language course at a higher education institution in the Sultanate of Oman. Its aim was to propose an alternative curriculum for an English language pathway module by introducing socially-contextualized generative themes, position questioning and post-methodological teaching and learning strategies which would lead to an increased engagement with multiple perspectives hence an increased level of critical awareness. Moreover, the study sought to provide a platform for students’ voice where their views and choices were not only taken into consideration but had a direct impact on the direction of the critical intervention. The present study did not try to advocate for a new pedagogical framework that is prescriptive in nature but rather emphasize the ephemeral and hence dynamic nature classroom methodology. The study took place at a private higher education institution in the capital city of the Sultanate of Oman. The site of the intervention was a lower level English language vocabulary and reading focused module that served as support for English language majors. The participants were two teachers who had taught the module in the past as well as a group of students who had enrolled in the module at the time of the intervention. The group of student participants was entirely composed of females who possessed various levels of English language proficiency and originated from various parts of Oman. Data were collected during three intervention stages, following an action research design, through multiple methods: interviews, focus-groups, tests, questionnaires, observations. The research diary kept during the intervention represented another data source and an important instrument of recording instances of reflection on action. Participant confidentiality and anonymity was maintained throughout the data collection and analysis. The collected data was analysed following the principles of thematic analysis but also keeping in mind the democratic character of action research. Thus, a comparison of the researchers’ interpretations of the analysis with the experiences of the participants as well as the opinions of the external observers was undertaken. Several major themes emerged from the data at the different stages of the intervention: students’ needs and abilities, the need for a reformed curriculum, assessment of the students’ level of critical literacy, positioning and identifying multiple perspectives, students’ views on the critical intervention and their development of critical awareness as well as challenges and caveats at the intervention stage, students’ resistance versus emotional attachment to the module. In terms of readiness for a critical intervention, students and teacher participants held different views, as teachers associated readiness with a high level of critical thinking and language proficiency whereas students associated it with interest and emotional attachment. The majority of student experiences during the critical intervention were clustered around a shift in perspective which did not only evidence their increased sense of awareness of the world and its various social issues but also an increased display of empathy and compassion. Students also avowed an increased improvement in all four language skills as a result of this experience. Student silence had an impact on the reshaping of the intervention hence proved an opportunity for reflection and change. The key findings of the study suggest that, although considered a high-risk endeavour, critical pedagogy offers ample opportunities for English language education as students’ attitudes to it were generally positive. Students wish to take an active role in authoring the course of their learning and will make apparent their choices even through opposition, resistance and silence. Furthermore, critical pedagogy needs to be understood in the context of possibility as it is not a prescripitive set of rules or strategies nor automatically democratic and free from imposition. It is constantly informed and transformed by its authors’ and its participants’ contributions. The study has thus brought an overall understanding of the possibilities of critical pedagogical endeavours as well as the possibilities of critical action research to illuminate the phenomena of critical literacy and participant voice.

This thesis evaluates the effectiveness of having students reflect upon their experiences of learning and use of critical thinking in their first year of study at University. Specifically, it responds to the debate on whether teaching a general course on critical thinking skills constitutes a 'syntax or semantic' for the students. McPeck (1990) initiated this debate, claiming that teaching general courses on critical thinking skills do not improve students' processes of reasoning. He believes that such courses are not meaningful to students and their learning, stating that the thinking skills the students require, must instead be derived directly from the subjects that they are studying. Educators such as Paul (1991; Siegel 1990) disagree with McPeck and argue that these courses improve students' reasoning processes at University level. In responding to this debate, I designed an introductory critical thinking skills course entitled the <em>Process of Learning</em>. This course was implemented with first year students enrolled on a design and media management course at a University in the United Kingdom. This case study was evaluated using an action research methodology. The findings of this research are discussed within the framework of student learning theory and the learning environment. The data includes student and staff interviews conducted over 18 months, triangulated findings from the course sessions and analysis of related assignments. This research found that students can benefit from first year introductory critical thinking courses in several ways. Students become sensitised or aware of the critical thinking skills that they use in first year. The subsequent application of these skills can lead to improvement in learning quality outcomes in subsequent studies. Students with a higher level of competency discuss these thinking skills more coherently and recognise their personal responsibility in learning. Students achieve insights into their own personal perception of learning and begin to assess objectively the implications of what they have learnt from this. Wide ranging feedback from students discussing critical thinking skills and learning activities can provide a medium for staff committed to improving both pedagogy and the curriculum. Better understanding of critical thinking skills can improve the students' confidence in learning. Further insights are presented in this research that help us to further understand the nature of `confidence' in learning. Students identified a number of difficulties with the <em>Process of Learning</em>. This would appear initially to support McPeck's belief that such courses arc not helpful to students in the first year of study. However, four key findings are presented in this thesis which explain why these difficulties arose. Consequently, this research supports educators who advocate the teaching of general critical thinking skills courses in higher education, due to the benefits for students and staff. It concludes that the 'syntax versus semantic' dichotomy is an oversimplification of the debate and explains why this is so. Finally, suggestions are made for future research directed at integrating critical thinking skills courses across the degree level at University.

In this study I explored the research questions, how do students understand membership in a community and the responsibilities of our various locations and what pedagogical rationales and practices move students from awareness of social injustice towards acting to transform the societal structures that reinforce injustice? This project engaged in a critical and classroom action research using ethnographic tools with a class of Grade 7 students from a Vancouver elementary school. The purpose was to create spaces in curriculum for student initiated social justice oriented actions while testing a pedagogy founded in student inquiry, criticality and praxis. This was an experiment in applying critical discourse to instructional design. While teaching about social justice issues, the teacher- researcher sought to employ the principles of social justice in the pedagogy as well as the methodology of this study. The methodology sought to be consistent with the principles of social justice through attempting to create a collaborative critical research cohort with students through using data collection to foster a dialogic relationship between teacher- researcher and students. The data collection was in the forms of teacher and student generated fieldnotes, a communal research log, photography, questionnaires, interviews and written reflections. The findings from this research were analyzed through the themes of teacher tensions, constructs of student and teachers, and resistance. The analysis of the data provided opportunities for identifying power dynamics within the concepts being critiqued, exploring the makings of the cognitive unconscious and entering into a dialogic relationship with students about official and hidden curricula. Conclusions drawn from this research included that the experiment of teaching and researching for social justice in a socially just manner requires not only a grounding in theory and an awareness of the normative discourse, but an investigation of and critical reflection on those social constructions of teacher and student that are deeply embedded in the collective cognitive unconscious of the classroom. Teacher tensions and student resistance are productive as they provoke awareness of these constructions and their effects on the classroom. / Education, Faculty of / Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of / Graduate

No Abstract Available / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / lmchunu2014 / Visual Arts / unrestricted

Includes bibliographies.

<p>The intent of the physical education program in highschools is to provide students with information and skills that will assist them in living a healthy, active lifestyle. This intent was not been realized through the teaching of physical education at Syl Apps School, a secure custody facility for Young Offenders. Action Research was used to investigate the areas in which the physical education program was not meeting the needs of the female students at Syl Apps.</p><p></p><p> The action research process involved the stages of finding a starting point, clarifying the problem, developing action strategies and putting them into practice. These stages were undertaken twice in order to ensure the efficacy of the action strategies developed.</p><p></p><p> The purpose of this project was to develop suggested modifications to the physical education course so that it would be better suited to the female students at Syl Apps. The suggested modifications that resulted from this project included the establishment of four key assessment tools (Movement skills Assessment, Sister's Package, Self Assessment, Fitness Profile), and the inclusion of a clinical component into the course.</p> / Thesis / Master of Science (Teaching)

No description available.

This study investigated teachers' perceptions of the influences of action research on their thinking about instructional practices and the impact of this thinking on teaching practices. The four specific areas of investigation were teachers' perceptions about (a) the overall teacher role, (b) teachers' knowledge about teaching, (c) teaching practices, and (d) reflective practices. The data were collected from interviews with teacher researchers, informal classroom observations, and collection of teacher and student work and related artifacts. The data revealed that teachers perceived changes in the four areas of investigation. Engaging in the stages of action research provided teachers with a methodical structure for implementing and analyzing the teaching and learning process. This defined structure guided teachers through more systematic and conscious data collection, data analysis, and reflection. / Ph. D.

This study documented the initial planning process of a group of sixth grade teachers on a collaborative team over a six-month period. Using action research, this team of teachers examined their own practices of planning and implementing instruction. The teachers identified a focus area, planned for instruction, implemented the plan, observed the results of their plan, reflected upon the results and revised the plan (Kemmis and Wilkinson, 1998) to map their instruction. The teachers used archival, conventional and inventive information sources (Calhoun, 1994) to collect their data on the identified focus areas. The teachers used the concept of curriculum mapping (Jacobs, 1997) to plan instruction for their assigned students. The researcher originally had planned to assume three roles in the study: a coach or facilitator, a participant and a participant-observer. As the study progressed the researcher also assumed the role of a member/learner (Mertens, 1998) in the process. Classroom observations, transcribed audio-tapes of planning meetings, field notes, teacher lesson plans, the team's reflection journal, teacher biographical information, interviews and visual curriculum maps designed by the teachers provided data for the study. Emergent themes in teacher planning included instructional design, student personal information and parent communication. The themes were defined by the supporting actions of the teachers. Instructional design was defined in the study with mapping, curriculum and instructional strategies. Student personal information encompassed personal learning styles, information regarding student feelings and behaviors, and instructional strategies specifically identified for individual students. Parent communication included school, classroom and student information shared with parents. The research questions explored were: How does the planning process take place? How did the planning process change as the team worked through the action research process? The findings show that: (1) a team of teachers can become stronger when they articulate their plan for instruction in writing (or in this case, drawing). (2) The concept of curriculum mapping can be a vehicle to insure a systematic instructional planning process. (3) Teachers detail individual assessment and instruction in planning sessions, lesson plans or curriculum maps. (4) Action research can provide a means for teachers to examine their own practices in a non-threatening format when they identify the focus areas of examination. (5) Teachers can learn from each other and share learned information in team planning if they perceive shared beliefs. (6) Teachers can plan for the success of all students when they consider essential questions to be learned and the individual learning styles of their students. (7) Teachers and administrators can work collaboratively in examining planning and instructional practices. (8) Teachers can identify their own professional growth needs when they examine their own practices. The findings also indicated that these middle school teachers created their own visual description of their planning for instruction, bringing ownership and empowerment to the process. The implication of these research results is that teacher planning in a team can be a powerful force in the improvement of instruction influencing the design of an instructional plan, the implementation of the plan and teacher reflection on the results of the plan in student learning and success within the classroom. Recommendations for future research are discussed. / Ed. D.

No / Managers today increasingly find themselves facing unexpected problems, needing to learn how to cope with complex environments and to take action in an often chaotic flow of events. This paper discusses how researchers can engage managers in a form of dialogical action research, capable of nurturing meaningful knowledge and facilitating change. This is achieved by creating space for collaborative dialogue between managers and researchers, and supplementing it with the integration of a reflexive writing practice that can be used to create ‘generative moments’ for learning within experience. The paper first presents methodological reflections related to the challenges of sustaining management practice through action research. Second, we explicate dialogical action research and illustrate the reflexive writing practice through two vignettes, which provide opportunities to reflexively explore “how things work” in managers’ organizational contexts. This forms the basis for sustaining participation and learning at individual and collective levels. Finally, we identify and discuss the specific conditions and limits of such an approach.